Akopova / Rakhmanin Reach the Olympic-2026 Final! Historic Skate by the Armenian Pair

The Armenian pair Karina Akopova / Nikita Rakhmanin delivered a brilliant performance in the short program at the Olympic Games 2026, securing their place in the free skate.

After seven pairs had performed, it became officially clear: the Armenian representatives are guaranteed a top-16 finish and will continue their fight in the final, scheduled for February 16.

Season’s Best — 66.27

Following the short program, the Armenian duo received 66.27 points — their best score of the season. At the moment, Akopova and Rakhmanin sit in 3rd place, trailing only the pairs from China and the United States.

Short Program Results (live update)

1. Germany (Hase / Volodin) — 80.01
2. Georgia (Metelkina / Berulava) — 75.46
3. Canada (Pereira / Michaud) — 74.60
4. Hungary (Pavlova / Sviatchenko) — 73.87
5. Japan (Miura / Kihara) — 73.11
6. China (Xu / Cong) — 72.66
7. USA (Kam / O'Shea) — 71.87
8. Italy (Conti / Masii) — 71.70
9. USA (Chan / Hou) — 70.06
10. Italy (Ghigliardi / Ambrosini) — 69.08
11. Germany (Hoke / Kunkel) — 67.52
12. Armenia (Akopova / Rakhmaninov) — 66.27
13. Great Britain (Vaipan-Lou / Digba) — 66.07
14. Canada (Stellato-Dudek / Deschamps) — 66.04
15. Poland (Schetinina / Wozniak) — 64.65
16. France (Kovaleva / Kovalev) — 64.28
17. Netherlands (Danilova / Tsyba) — 64.07
18. Australia (Golubeva / Giotopoulos) — 60.69
19. Japan (Nagaoka / Moriguchi) — 59.62

A Magnificent Performance

It was a truly outstanding skate. All elements were completed, with three currently under technical review. In terms of difficulty and execution quality, the program looked confident and composed.

Special attention must be given to the choreography set to “Artsakh” by Ara Gevorgyan — emotional, powerful, and deeply moving. The arena responded warmly, and the Armenian pair delivered a clean and inspired performance.

The tournament continues, but one thing is already certain: this is a historic moment for Armenian figure skating.

Next up — the free program. And the fight for an even greater result.

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